Editorial: Facilitating learning

Teachers of all sorts are constantly tasked with creating an environment that will be conducive to discussion and, ultimately, learning. As college students we face an impetus to learn so that we can apply these skills to make a living. Yet somehow these seemingly congruent tendencies don’t always result in their desired effect.

We’ve all been in classes where a professor desperately attempted to foster discussion only to be met by complete and utter silence. As students we tend not to consider the factors that contribute to this paradoxical impasse and how we ourselves may be perpetuating this state of non-learning.

These classes seem to have some common factors: improperly set-up and with a complete disconnect between the professor and the students.

Classes that are discussion based tend to function better in smaller settings where everyone is engaged. The ideal is an open exchange of thoughts through dialogue, so things like where you sit, how you’re facing and how you act matter. Accountability is one way that professors have attempted to address this by making participation a substantial portion of our grade. This, of course, puts the onus back on us to care about our grades to begin with.

Discussion also tends to be more active when the topics being discussed give us an opportunity to take a stance. It’s hard to have an engaging argument about things that are purely factual. Taking courses that you’re actually passionate about also helps.

We’re all paying a hefty sum for our college educations, so it’s in our best interest to be attentive of these potential pitfalls and to demand that our professors and university do the same.